Delta Airline’s proposal to link Portland and Tokyo-Haneda airports with daily nonstop flights has been approved by federal regulators.
Delta currently has flights five days a week from Portland to Tokyo-Narita airport, located about 50 miles from the Haneda airport. Haneda is, however, the central airport of the Japanese capital and is increasingly changing from a historically domestic airport to an international aviation hub.
Starting next year, Delta will cease its flights to Narita and begin service to Haneda and increase its Tokyo flights to seven days a week with expectations of having two flights per day. By Delta’s estimates travel from Portland to central Toyko will be reduced by an hour. The final decision on travel times has not been made.
Brochure printing provides a way for Chambers of Commerce or Departments of Tourism to inform tourists of local sights at a new destination.
A number of Portland companies routinely have employees making the trip to Japan as well as maintaining a presence there and 150 Japanese companies, operate offices with a 90-minute drive of the Portland airport.
Service to Tokyo-Haneda airport will start in spring 2020. Flights to Japan will take approximately 11 hours and the flight back to Portland will be about 9 hours.
Portland is one of a dozen cities to receive permission for new connections to Tokyo-Haneda. The added routes should be well underway by the time the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan take place.
